Jasper suggests that the real killer is Mad Jack Lionel, a mysterious, reclusive old man who supposedly killed a young woman years ago. He and Charlie must try to find the real killer-only in this way can Jasper clear his own name. Jasper convinces Charlie to hide Laura’s body by throwing it in the nearby river. Charlie, horrified by the sight of a dead body, tells Jasper that they need to alert the police, but Jasper insists that if they do so, Jasper will be arrested for the crime and sent to jail. Jasper claims that he found Laura hanging there earlier in the night, and went to Charlie for help because he believes that Charlie is wise, trustworthy, and loyal. Jasper explains that the girl is Laura Wishart, a girlfriend of his. Jasper shows Charlie what he has discovered: the body of a young girl, hanging by a rope from a tree. Jasper leads Charlie past the river and into a clearing in the bushes. His father is a lazy drunk, and Jasper has long been forced to take care of himself. Because of his mixed race, he is blamed for every misfortune or crime in Corrigan. Jasper is “half-caste,” meaning that one of his parents is white, while the other is Aboriginal. Jasper begs Charlie to come with him, and because of his respect for Jasper, Charlie obliges.Īs Jasper leads Charlie through the town where they live, Corrigan, Charlie thinks about what he knows about Jasper. A boy named Charlie Bucktin is reading in his room late at night, when another boy, Jasper Jones, knocks at his window and tells him to come out. Jasper Jones takes place in a small town in Australia in the late 1960s.

Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey